800k to 2 million religious minorities detained in Chinese internment camps: US

Washington PTI: An estimated 800,000 to 2 million religious minorities are currently being detained in internment camps in China, the Trump Administration has told lawmakers, who have expressed serious concerns over the massive human rights violations there.

At a Congressional hearing here, Scott Busby, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State at the Bureau of the Human Right Democracy and Labor, alleged that Beijing was supporting similar repressive moves by other authoritarian regimes across the globe.

“The US government assesses that since April 2017, Chinese authorities have indefinitely detained at least 800,000, and possibly more than 2 million, Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs and members of other Muslim minorities in internment camps,” he said.

Testifying before a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee, Busby said reports suggested that most of those detained were not being charged, and their families had little or no information about their whereabouts.

At first, China denied the existence of such camps, but as public reports have emerged, Chinese authorities now assert that they are “vocational education centres”, which glosses over the fact that many renowned Uyghur intellectuals and retired professionals are also detained in these camps, he said.

Former detainees, who have reached safety, have spoken of relentless indoctrination and harsh conditions for example, praying and other religious practices are forbidden.

Life outside the internment camps is not much better, he noted. Neighbourhoods have entry and exit checkpoints manned by armed police. Families have been forced to accept Chinese officials into their homes for extended home-stays. Thousands of mosques have been shuttered or destroyed, while some turned into communist propaganda centres, Busby alleged.

“Unfortunately, fleeing China is not enough to escape the long arms of the government. China has routinely pressured other countries to return Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs and members of other Muslim minority groups, which has often proven successful,” he told the lawmakers.

Even when such individuals reach safety, China continues to harass and intimidate them. China’s repression of minority groups does not end in Xinjiang, he said.